Virginia has one of the top 10 best business climates for capital investment, according to a magazine that focuses on economic development.
Site Selection magazine said Virginia has the fourth-best business climate in the nation in 2011, as measured by criteria such as tax rates and a survey of corporate real estate executives.
The magazine, published by Atlanta-based Conway Data Inc., ranks the states annually. For 2011, the magazine said Texas was the nation's most business-friendly state for capital investment.
Georgia was ranked second, followed by North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina.
The rankings are one tool local economic developers can use to promote the region to prospective businesses, said Gregory H. Wingfield, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Richmond Partnership, a regional economic development group.
Site Selection is one of the premiere publications focusing on economic development, he said.
The rankings are determined 50 percent by criteria such as tax climate and the states' performance in a Conway Data database that tracks new and expanded business-facility activity.
The other 50 percent is determined by a survey of corporate executives working in site selection. The survey asks them to rank states based on factors such as government, workforce, incentives and land availability.
"Those are the folks who are going to be voting with their feet and pocketbooks," Wingfield said.
In the survey portion, Virginia tied for fifth in the rankings with Tennessee, behind Texas, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
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